Basics of Hajj

The ritual of Hajj is performed in themonth of ZulHijjah, thetwelfth
and last monthin the Islamic lunar calendar. In Arabic, the word hajj
literally meansgoing to a place for the sake of visiting; and
according to the terminology of the Islamic Sharee'ah, it implies to
the act of going to the Baitullah in Mecca to observe the necessary
devotions related to pilgrimage. The hajj is mandatory upon all able
Muslims, men and women, at least once in a lifetime.
Apart from worship of Allah (SWT), the command for hajj offers Muslims
theopportunity to interact with their brethren from around the globe.
The command concerning the hajj is found in several Qur'anic verses,
among them:
"And when We assigned to Ibraheem the site of the Sacred House
(Ka'bah), saying 'Do not associate with Me anything, and purify My
House for those who circumambulate the Ka'bah, and those who stand up
and prostrate and bow in prayer. And proclaim the Pilgrimage among
men, and they will come to you on foot and mounted on every kind of
camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain
highways." [Surah Al-Hajj: Verse 26-27].
The verse above confirms that Prophet Ibraheem (a.s.) worshipped at
the Sacred House of Allah SWT (Baitullah - another name of Ka'bah)
long before the advent of Judaism or Christianity.
For that matter, some Bibilical historians say that he lived in the
first half of the second millennium B.C, that is prior to the
establishment of the Indus civilizations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro;
hence, prior to the birth of Hinduism. By virtue of it being thefifth
pillar of Islam, the hajj literally makes Islam the oldest religion on
earth.The hajj today is thelargest gathering of human beingson earth.
Besides this annual ritual, there is a lesser hajj known asUmrahthat
can be performed at any time during the year except on the days of the
greater hajj, specificallyfrom 9th till 13th of ZulHijjah.
On the benefit of hajj, Abu Hurairah (r.a.) narrates that he heard the
Prophet SAW say:
"Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit any Rafath (obscenity) or
Fusooq (transgression), he returns (free from sin) as the day his
mother bore him." [Bukhari]
There are three categories of hajj:Tamattu', Qiraan and Ifraad. In brief,
*.Tamattu'refers to the act of performing umrah in the month of hajj.
*.Qiraan, on the other hand, refers to a pilgrim who performs hajj and
umrah jointly;
*.Ifraadmeans that a pilgrim wears the ihraam for hajj only and he/she
performs his umrah only after completing the greater hajj.
The most beautiful aspect of hajj is theuniformity. All the pilgrims
have to do exactly the same acts at the same sites around Mecca on
four days consecutively. All wear theihraamgarb, a great majority of
which iswhitein color.
Once the ihraam is donned and the intention for hajj uttered, male
pilgrims are prohibited from wearing stitched clothes, shoes that
cover the anklebone, a hat or turban or anything that covers the head.
Women are prohibited from wearing the veil that covers their faces
(burqaa) and also gloves.
Both men and women are prohibited from wearing any kind of perfume or
hair oil, cropping or shaving hair on any part of the body, cut the
nails, have sexual intercourse, hunt and kill animals, or to be
involved in any form of marriage proposal.